Helpful Home Buying Apps

As an agent or broker, you probably use apps to help you do business. Do you ever wonder what homebuyers are using? We found one answer on the Homefinder.com blog.

The apps you need before, during and after your home search

Are you in the process of looking for a new home? We’ve got you covered on three apps that can come in handy: one that’s helpful before you go to the house, one for while you are there and one for after you buy.

Before you go

So you have set aside a weekend to go visit Open Houses, perhaps found on a nifty Open House app, and are set to go. Check out the app BAO (free for iPhone and iPad). This app allows you to enter an address and it will provide the demographics around that point. You’ll get information such as the median age for the area, the population and the “type” of neighborhood (i.e. “Laptops and Lattes”). So if you are a couple looking for a nice place to raise your kids and the median age is 25 and designated the “Loud Partying” neighborhood, you’ll know to maybe leave that Open House off your list this weekend.

While you are there

After you’ve checked all your Open Houses on BAO and found the homes that fit your criteria, you’re off to see them in person. Before you go, download the Around Me app which has a free version for both iPhone and Android. This application allows you to use your current location to find places near you, everything from coffee houses to hospitals. Start the app once you are at each house and it will give you a good look at what’s around you in your potential new neighborhood. Are you a foodie and the app tells you there’s 20 restaurants within walking distance? This could be the house for you!

Once you find your house

Once you’ve attended the open houses and used AroundMe to see what’s located around your dream house, hopefully you have finally found the right house for you. Congrats!

Now that you’ve moved in, you know there are a few minor changes you need to make to turn the house into your home. Here’s where the app ColorChange for iPhone comes in handy for painting options.

All you need to do is take a picture of the wall you are thinking about painting. The app then allows you to see what it would look like as any color of the rainbow. You have complete control over the hue and saturation of the colors and once you find the perfect shade, you can download a swatch to take with you to the paint store so they can match it. For the one time $2.99 app download fee, you can save yourself the headache of trying to imagine your kitchen wall as “Petal Pink” when you are in the paint store.

So there you have it. Three apps that will help you in each stage of your home searching and purchasing process. Now all you need are the perfect open houses to look at this weekend!

We wish you luck in your search and can’t wait to hear about the results. Did the apps help you decide? Have suggestions to add to this list? Let us know, we want to hear from you!